Improve home-school connections with these digital strategies:

Expand the classroom communications toolbox—websites, emails, e-newsletters, and specialized apps and other digital media help parents see the work students are doing.

Take care of the routine matters—use technology to communicate easily about day-to-day school events.

Bring parents in through video conferencing—Google, Skype, and FaceTime enable parents to participate in class activities.

Take advantage of social media—use Facebook groups, email chains, or digital newsletters to keep parents informed and able to offer help or expertise when it’s convenient for them.

Use text messages to build communication—technology can eliminate common barriers between schools and families. Simple and frequent texts to parents can be more powerful than a traditional progress report.

Let parents help design communication tactics—survey families early in the school year to determine the best way to keep in touch with them.

Use data to show student progress—with modern data tools, teachers can show parents where their students excel and where they need improvement.

Make information easy to access with the cloud—digital portfolios create a place for teachers and students to store work in the cloud that is accessible from anywhere.